Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on January 27th, 2020



Elton John has reportedly snapped up a batch of actress Gwyneth Paltrow's sensational new scented candles, irreverently titled "This Smells Like My Vagina" candles. Perfumer Douglas Little, who came up with the wax wonder with the Shakespeare In Love Oscar winner, says Sir Elton is "a fan" and has bought a "ton of them." Paltrow and Little unveiled the cheeky candle earlier in January, revealing the idea started out as a joke. "We were kind of messing around and I smelled this beautiful thing and I was like, 'This smells like my vagina'," Paltrow said in a recent interview. "I was kidding, obviously. It was really funny to us." Paltrow's "This Smells Like My Vagina" candle retails for $75, and is available via the Oscar-winning actress' online Goop wellness store. - WENN/Canoe.com, 1/24/20...... '70s singer/songwriter legend John Prine was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Grammy during the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards at L.A.'s Staples Center on Jan. 26. Bonnie Raitt paid tribute to Prine with an abbreviated acoustic version of Prine's classic "Angel From Montgomery," after which she pointed to Prine in the audience and said he "wrote 'Angel From Montgomery' and so many other songs that changed my life... I love you John." Prine released his highest-charting album ever in 2018, The Tree of Forgiveness, which peaked at No. 5. - Billboard,...... AerosmithIn other Grammys news, Aerosmith re-teamed with rap act Run-D.M.C. for a rendition of their 1986 remake of "Walk This Way." Rev. Run of Run-D.M.C. busted through a fake brick wall to join Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry on the first true rap-rock hit, trading verses with Tyler as Perry ripped off solos on a white custom electic guitar. As the performance wound down a member of Run-DMC's crew held up a No. 24 Los Angeles Lakers jersey in honor of late hometown basketball legend Kobe Bryant, who was among eight people killed in a tragic helicopter accident earlier in the day. The night before, Aerosmith was honored at a MusiCares Person of the Year gala, which raised over $6 million for musicians and other industry professionals in medical, emotional and financial need. Aerosmith was honored with performances from a range of artists including Alice Cooper, Johnny Depp, Foo Fighters, John Mayer and John Legend. Earlier in Grammy Week, co-founding Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer said he was "disappointed" after a Massachusetts Superior Court judge dismissed his legal bid to rejoin the group for their Grammy Awards performance. Kramer, who suffered an ankle injury in 2019 which caused him to miss most of Aerosmith's recent Las Vegas residency, sued the band and argued breach of contract. The 69-year-old says the band told he he was required to re-audition for his place, and apparently failed to prove he could perform "at an appropriate level." Celebrity gossip website TMZ.com captured footage of Kramer being turned away from Aerosmith's rehearsals for the show by security guards. "I'm sorry, we're just asking you not to come into the property right now," one security guard told him. "We've been hired by the other four members of the band to ask that you don't come in today." When he was asked if that was alright, Kramer responded: "Well, you're just doing your job," then thanked the guards and walked away. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine after the judge's decision, Kramer said: "The truth speaks for itself. Ever since I injured my foot last August and went through many hours of physical therapy to heal, not once did the band in its entirety offer to rehearse with me. That is a fact." - Billboard/New Musical Express, 1/26/20...... In more Grammy news, Willie Nelson was paid a pre-Grammy salute on Jan. 25 at The Troubadour in Los Angeles by the Americana Music Association's 7th annual pre-Grammy concert. Although Nelson, 86, was not present for the tribute at the Troubadour, his songs were showcased by several artists he has influenced, including John Prine, Shooter Jennings, Joe Henry, Amos Lee and others. On Grammy night, Nelson was named winner of a Best Country Solo Performance Grammy for his 2019 single, "Ride Me Back Home," beating out the likes of Blake Shelton and Tanya Tucker. - Billboard, 1/26/20...... What would have been the 75th birthday of late '70s reggae legend Bob Marley was celebrated during a pre-Grammys brunch on Jan. 24 in Los Angeles, about two weeks before his Feb. 6 birthdate. The event was attended by his children, including Cedella Marley, Julian Marley and Rohan Marley, and several of his grandchildren. Cedella Marley, a three-time Grammy winner, said her father, who died in 1981, taught his children important lessons about perseverance. "Daddy was a fitness guru... and there were times when we would do these relay races and a lot of parents just want their children to win, win, win. No, we had to really win," she said. "And he was not the one that was just going to let you win just because, and I think that's an important lesson. Nothing is handed to you, you have to go out there (and work hard)." - AP, 1/25/20...... Roger WatersFormer founding Pink Floyd member Roger Waters announced on Jan. 23 that he'll kick off a "This Is Not a Drill" North American tour this summer, playing in the round for the first time ever. Waters is promising the tour, which launches on July 8 in Pittsburgh, will be an entirely new show that pulls from his 50 years of experience in rock music. Other cities on the 31-date jaunt include Detroit, Philadelphia, Toronto, Boston, New York, Miami, Denver, Las Vegas, Vancouver and more, before wrapping on Oct. 3 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. The tour marks Waters' return to the U.S. following his extraordinary performances at the 2016 Desert Trip music festival and his worldwide "Us + Them Tour" in 2017 and 2018. Waters announced the tour on his Facebook page on Jan. 23, posting a video of his previous shows and footage of him in the rehearsal studio with his band. "As the clock ticks faster and faster and faster down to extinction, it seemed like a good thing to make a fuss about it, so that's why I'm going on the road," he says in the clip. - Billboard/NME, 1/23/20...... Jeff Lynne's ELO announced on Jan. 24 they'll launch a 15-date tour of the UK and Europe this fall. Supporting their 2019 release From Out of Nowhere, the tour is set to kick off Sept. 19 in Oslo, Norway, also visiting Stockholm (9/21), Herning, Denmark (9/23), Hamburg (9/26), Berlin (9/27), Cologne (9/29) and Munich (9/30). October shows include Amsterdam (10/2), London (10/5, 6), Birmingham (10/11), Manchester (10/16), Belfast (10/18), Dublin (10/19) and Glasgow (10/21). "The audiences in the UK and Europe were so good," frontman Jeff Lynne said in a statement. "We're looking forward to bringing a new show and some musical surprises this fall. I can't wait." - New Musical Express, 1/24/20...... Neil Young was granted official U.S. citizenship on Jan. 23 at Tom Bradley Hall at the L.A. Convention Center. Young, 74, previously announced he had decided to apply for dual U.S./Canadian citizenship so he can vote in the 2020 presidential election, presumably for the opponent of the target of his many criticisms, U.S. Pres. Donald Trump. Young was cheered and congratulated by fans as he walked by alongside his wife Daryl Hannah and waved his paperwork and a small American flag. In an update on his NeilYoung.com website, Young posted "I'm Happy to Report I'm In!!" as he saluted next to a voter registration table that reads, "Democrats register to vote here." - Billboard, 1/23/20...... Brian Eno and his brother Roger Eno have announced they will release a joint album together entitled Mixing Colours. It will be the ambient music pioneer's first studio effort since 2017's Reflection. Eno says the latest album with his brother, who has also developed a career in the same genre, has been in the works since 2005. The album is due March 20 via Deutsche Grammophon, and the first single, "Celeste," has already been shared. In December, Eno released a satirical new track, "Everything's on the Up With the Tories," in the U.K. prior to the general election which was won by the Conservative party. All proceeds made from the two-minute, sing-song track went towards aiding the homeless, according to Eno. - New Musical Express, 1/26/20...... James TaylorJames Taylor announced on Jan. 23 that he'll release his first new album in five years, American Standard, on Feb. 28 via Fantasy Records. Taylor's 19th studio LP, American Standard features reimagined versions of such timeless 20th century songs as "The Surrey With the Fringe on Top" from the musical "Oklahoma!," Bing Crosby's "Pennies From Heaven," Audrey Hepburn's "Moon River," and many more. "I've always had songs I grew up with that I remember really well, that were part of the family record collection -- and I had a sense of how to approach, so it was a natural to put American Standard together," Taylor said in a press release. "I know most of these songs from the original cast recordings of the famous Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, including My Fair Lady, Oklahoma, Carousel, Showboat and others.... we were interested in doing something new, and in bringing something new to it, we've reinterpreted the songs, that's what makes it worth doing." Taylor also announced he'll mount a 28-city tour with opener Jackson Browne behind the new album beginning on May 15 in New Orleans, also hitting such markets as Houston (5/16), Portland (5/25), San Francisco (5/27), Anaheim (5/28), San Diego (5/29), Chicago (6/10), Detroit (6/13), Boston (6/21), Louisville (6/26), Atlanta (6/29), Nashville (6/3) and Holmdel, N.J. (7/7) before wrapping on July 10 in Camden, N.J. - Billboard, 1/23/20...... Multiple songs by Rush have dominated Billboard's Hot Rock Songs chart for the week ending Jan. 25 following the death of Rush drummer Neil Peart on Jan. 7 after a battle with glioblastoma. Rush's 1981 track "Tom Sawyer" leads the list at No. 3 with 4,000 digital downloads, followed by "Limelight" at No. 10 (1.6 million streams, 2,000 sold), "The Spirit of Radio" at No. 13 (1.3 million streams, 2,000 sold), and "Subdivisions" at No. 24 (1.1 million streams, 1,000 sold). In all, Rush's song catalog drew 34.2 million on-demand streams, a jump of 622%, and moved 42,000 album units, up 701%, in the tracking week. - Billboard, 1/22/20...... Former Happy Days star Henry Winkler has denied he and Tom Hanks are still feuding over Winkler's firing from the movie Turner & Hooch. Winkler was dismissed as the director of the 1989 Disney dog film, with rumours swirling for years that he and Hanks had clashed on set. This made for an awkward moment during the Jan. 19 SAG Awards as a camera cut to Winkler when a clip from Turner & Hooch was shown during a career spanning montage celebrating Hanks receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Award. Denying they are at odds, Henry told TMZ: "I don't have a feud with Tom Hanks." Winkler, 74, also said that "sure," he would want to work with Hanks again, despite the fact that teaming up on Turner & Hooch did not work out for him. Winkler said that he and Hanks had in fact been friends for "years" and that he had also enjoyed working with the two-time Oscar-winner's wife, Rita Wilson. - WENN/Canoe.com, 1/22/20...... Mick JaggerMick Jagger is set to act in his first significant film part since 2001's The Man From Elysian Fields when he appears in the forthcoming movie The Burnt Orange Heresy. In the movie, the Rolling Stones frontman plays shady art dealer Joseph Cassidy who tries to persuade an art critic (played by Claes Bang) to steal a painting from a reclusive artist Jerome Debney (Donald Sutherland). According to a synopsis, "Soon, James' greed and ambition get the better of him, and he finds himself caught in a web of his own making." A clip from the movie, which hits U.S. theaters on Mar. 6 (no U.K. release date has been set), can be viewed on YouTube. - NME, 1/25/20...... Longtime PBS NewsHour anchorman Jim Lehrer reportedly died "peacefully in his sleep at home" on Jan. 23 at age 85. Mr. Lehrer anchored NewsHour, the flagship newscast on public television in the United States, for 36 years until his retirement in 2011. Mr. Lehrer was also noted for hosting several U.S. presidential debates, once stating he always tried to keep the focus on the candidates and not on himself. "I'm heartbroken at the loss of someone who was central to my professional life, a mentor to me and someone whose friendship I've cherished for decades," said Judy Woodruff, who replaced Mr. Lehrer at the NewsHour anchor desk. "I've looked up to him as the standard for fair, probing and thoughtful journalism and I know countless others who feel the same way," - CNN.com, 1/23/20.

Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer filed a lawsuit against his bandmates on Jan. 17, charging they violated his contract by not allowing him to perform with the band on the upcoming 2020 Grammy Awards on Jan. 26. Kramer, who says he's fully recovered from several injuries he suffered in the spring of 2019, says the band unfairly blocked his return for the Grammys performance. Aerosmith responded to the suit in a statement devoid of animosity: "Joey Kramer is our brother; his wellbeing is of paramount importance to us. However he has not been emotionally and physically able to perform with the band, by his own admission, for the last 6 months. We have missed him and have encouraged him to rejoin us to play many times but apparently he has not felt ready to do so." The statement goes on to say Kramer "has now waited until the last moment to accept our invitation, when we unfortunately have no time for necessary rehearsals during Grammys week" and the band would "be doing a disservice to him, to ourselves and to our fans to have him play without adequate time to prepare and rehearse." Kramer says that Aerosmith, which is being honored with a Lifetime Achievement Grammy as well as being named MusiCares Person of the Year in another Grammy week event, is depriving him "of the opportunity to be recognized along with my peers for our collective lifetime contributions to the music industry... Neither the MusiCares' Person of the Year Award nor the Grammys' Lifetime Achievement honors can ever be repeated." - Billboard, 1/22/20...... Ozzy OsbourneIn an interview with the ABC's Good Morning America on Jan. 21, Ozzy Osbourne revealed that his been struggling with a form of Parkinson's disease called PRKN 2 after he suffered a fall in February 2019. "It's been terribly challenging for us," Ozzy told GMA, which posted the interview on their Twitter feed. Osbourne continued: "I did my last show New Year's Eve at The Forum. Then I had a bad fall. I had to have surgery on my neck, which screwed all my nerves. A year ago next month I was in a shocking state. I'm on a host of medication, mainly from surgery. I've got numbness down this arm from surgery, my legs feel like they're going cold, I don't know if that's from the Parkinson's." Ozzy's wife Sharon Osbourne, also present for the interview, stressed Ozzy's diagnosis "is not a death sentence by any stretch of the imagination" and that the couple "will travel to a doctor in Switzerland in April in a bid to secure further treatment for the condition." Ozzy added how he's determined to hit the road again in October for a planned UK tour, and that 2019 was the "longest, most painful and miserable" year of his life. The following day, Sharon thanked fans for their "outpouring of love" after Ozzy's revelation on her daytime show The Talk. "...Just to have all this outpouring of positive reaction from everyone that watches the show, and our friends, it's heartwarming. And I know that Ozzy will be just over the moon. He will be taken aback." Ozzy will release his latest solo LP, Ordinary Man, on Feb. 21. - New Musical Express, 1/21/20...... The estate of Michael Jackson renewed its partnership with music rights management company BMI on Jan. 21, in an agreement that dates back 41 years. BMI announced it will continue licensing the King of Pop's songwriting catalog for public performance, renewing a pact first signed in 1979 and last refreshed in 2014. According to BMI, 17 of Jackson's songs have exceeded over one million plays on radio, with some exceeding five million spins. "The influence of Michael Jackson's revolutionary music is undeniable," said BMI president/CEO Mike O'Neill "We are extremely pleased that his estate continues to entrust BMI to represent his extraordinary catalog." - Billboard, 1/21/20...... Hall and Oates announced a massive 32-date 2020 North American tour on Jan. 21 that will see the popular rock/R&B duo visit cities across the entire US, from Hawaii to New York. With openers Squeeze and KT Tunstall, Hall and Oates will launch the trek with a two-night stand at Foxwoods in Mashantucket, Conn. on May 15 and 16 and continue through Los Angeles (5/29), Denver (6/14), Austin (6/19), Toronto (7/10), Cleveland (7/14), Atlanta (8/13), Tampa (8/15) and more. The tour is currently scheduled to close out on Sept. 2 at Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion in Gilford, N.H. "I'm really looking forward to a big time 2020 tour!" said John Oates in a release. "Having KT Tunstall and Squeeze on the bill with us is just gonna make for an amazing night of music. Can't wait to see you all on the road." Warm ups before the tour begins in earnest in May will include shows at Giant Center in Hersey, Penn., on Feb. 26; Madison Square Garden in NYC on Feb. 28; and two shows in Hawaii on March 27 and 29. - Billboard, 1/21/2020...... Brian JohnsonAC/DC are reportedly planning to make a live comeback in 2020 with former frontman Brian Johnson handling vocal duties for the legendary Australian hard rockers. Australian radio personality Eddie McGuire, on his "Triple M Melbourne" show, says Johnson will return to the group after hearing loss forced him to leave the band in 2016, and that the band is planning a new album "in February/March this year... and [will be] touring Australia in October/November 2020." "And after a lot of work and a lot of technical research, they have been able to get a hearing aid for Brian Johnson, who will be out front," McGuire added. He also raised the possibility of former AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd, who left the band in 2015 after being convicted of drug possession and threatening to kill a former employee, returning to the band "after the issues that he's had in recent times. Rumors of a full AC/DC reunion date back to 2018, when there were reports the band was working after a lot of work and a lot of technical research, they have been able to get a hearing aid for Brian Johnson, who will be out front." Rumors of a full AC/DC reunion date back to 2018, when there were reports the band was working on a new album that would feature the work of their late rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young on "every track," and Rudd and Johnson were spotted together in Vancouver in 2019, where the band has recorded all their albums over the last two decades. - New Musical Express, 1/20/20...... Family members of Prince have apparently reached settlements in their wrongful death lawsuit against a slew of defendants who they originally sued in April 2018, two years after the funk-rock icon died of died of an accidental fentanyl overdose on April 21, 2016, without leaving a will. The defendants include the Minnesota doctor who saw Prince in the weeks before his death and the Illinois hospital that treated him for an opioid overdose seven days before he died. Prince's heirs alleged the parties had the duty and opportunity to diagnose and treat Prince's addiction and prevent his death, but failed to do so. But as early as summer 2019, the family has quietly dismissed the suits. Claims against Dr. Michael Schulenberg -- a doctor who treated Prince in the weeks before his death -- were permanently dismissed in November, along with claims against Schulenberg's former employer. Both sides agreed to the dismissals. Claims against Walgreens, which filled prescriptions for Prince, and Trinity Medical Center, the Illinois hospital where Prince was treated for an opioid overdose a week before he died, were also permanently dismissed in August by agreement. Meanwhile, Prince's siblings are still waiting to learn how much his estate is worth. Court filings several months after Prince's death suggested the estate was worth around $200 million before taxes. More recent filings suggest the estate and Internal Revenue Service have not yet agreed on its value. - AP, 1/20/20...... StingFormer The Police frontman Sting is adamant against being the subject of a Rocketman-like biopic treatment, according to a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "Absolutely not," the 68-year-old Grammy-winner told the publication. "I'm telling my story in an artistic way." That way is Sting's musical "The Last Ship," which is currently being presented at Broadway's Ahmanson Theatre through Feb. 16, a different version from the one that ran on Broadway for four months in 2014. Sting wrote the music and lyrics and plays the foreman of a Newcastle shipyard in the show, which draws from his early years growing up in a grim, ship-building town in Northern England. "It's really the story of my town," Sting says. "I come from a little town in the Northeast of England. It was a famous shipyard town. We built the biggest vessels ever constructed on the planet, right at the end of my street. So it was a kind of epic, surreal industrial environment, which I didn't appreciate as a kid. It was a very frightening idea that I would end up in the shipyard as my ancestors had done. I'd pass thousands of men every morning, thinking, 'I don't want this.'" Other topics Sting weighed in on included the demise of the Police ("Everything we set out to do as a band we achieved 100 fold. After you've done that it becomes diminishing returns in terms of satisfaction") and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leaving the Royal Family ("I think the press are making more of it than even the royal family are. I mean, he has every right to make his own life... It's ridiculous what they're making of it. Poor lad."). - The Hollywood Reporter, 1/20/20...... Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie announced on Jan. 21 that Blondie will embark on an "In Conversation" book tour of the U.K. in April centering around Harry's and Stein's respective books, Harry's best-selling autobiography Face It and Stein's two photo books, Negative and Point of View. The conversations will, according to a press release, be further "illuminated with seminal images of the band and New York City from Debbie's autobiography and Chris Stein's two books, as well as film clips, fan art, book readings and audience Q&As." "I've always loved the way Chris tells stories," Harry said in the statement. "I think you will too." The tour will begin on Apr. 22 in Glasgow, then visit Birminham on Apr. 24, Manchester on Apr. 26 and London on May 28. - NME, 1/21/20...... Bruce Springsteen surprised fans on Jan. 19 with three separate performances at the Light Of Day Parkinson's disease charity at the historic Stone Pony venue in Asbury, N.J. The Boss first took the stage during a set by Jesse Malin as part of the Light of Day week of fundraising shows for contributions to two of Malin's songs, then later joined Willie Nile to play "One Guitar" before joining Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers for a full ten-song set. The crowd was also treated to versions of his own classics, "Darkness on the Edge of Town," "Atlantic City" and "The Promised Land." Springsteen made a similar surprise appearance at the event in 2015. - NME, 1/20/20...... QueenBritain's Royal Mint announced on Jan. 20 that they will release a new Queen 5 coin beginning on Jan. 24, the first in a series of "Music Legends" collection by the mint. The coin commemorates all four members of the band through the portrayal of each member's instrument, including Freddie Mercury's Bechstein grand piano which he played on the Queen classic "Bohemian Rhapsody." Queen's logo is placed at the center of the design and is underscored by Mercury's signature mic stick. In a statement when the coins were first announced in May 2019, Queen guitarist Brian May said, "This is a big 'Who could have imagined it?' moment for us. When we began as Queen, even the first rung of the ladder to recognition seemed remote and unreachable. To have our band recognised and our music celebrated in this way is very touching -- a real honour." The commemorative coins are priced at £13 for an uncirculated coin right up to £2,100 for a gold proof coin, and can be viewed and purchased at the RoyalMint.com website. Queen recently announced plans to perform at a benefit concert for Australian bushfire relief at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium on Feb. 16. - New Musical Express, 1/20/20...... A longtime friend of Rush says some of the rumors surrounding Rush drummer Neil Peart's final days are inaccurate. Donna Halper, the woman credited with discovering Rush while working at an Ohio radio station back in 1974, says rumors currently circulating on social media that the musician was in a wheelchair and unable to speak in the months prior to his death after a three-year battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, are "inaccurate." "The vast majority are inaccurate," Halper says. "As for me, I choose to remember Neil as he was, and I want to respect his family's privacy during this difficult time." Also in her Twitter feed, Halper said: "Normally, I would remain silent and let people say what they want to say, but this is different. My friendship with Rush is something I take very seriously, and I will defend the truth as much as I can. It's the least I can do. But it ended the way he wanted, surrounded by his family & best friends. (By the way, he was able to speak, almost till the very end, I am told.) Anyway, I'm just sorry there is no cure for the kind of cancer he had. May he rest in peace." - NME, 1/19/20...... Parlophone Records has shared a video for another previously unreleased David Bowie track, "I Can't Read '97," on YouTube. The track is one of six on the new Record Store Day Bowie EP Is It Any Wonder? The original version of "I Can't Read" appeared on the self-titled debut album of Bowie's short-lived supergroup Tin Machine in 1989. Bowie re-recorded the track during the mixing stage of his 1997 LP Earthling, but it was cut from the album at the last minute to be replaced by "The Last Thing You Should Do." - NME, 1/17/2020...... Rod StewartIn an interview with the UK's Mail on Sunday, former Rod Stewart girlfriend Britt Ekland claimed Rod was tight with his money and made her pay rent to him during their two-year relationship. Ekland, 77, who dated Stewart from 1975 until 1977, also made the sensational claim that the 75-year-old "Maggie Mae" singer also used to like wearing her satin knickers. "People thought he bought me Chanel suits but I bought copies of Chanels with my own money," said Ekland, adding scathingly that Rod gave her "nothing." Ekland said that Stewart, who was famously once branded as "tight as two coats of paint" by his former Faces bandmate and current Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood, added she "had to pay $100 a month board and lodgings when I was living with him... I would go shopping with him and watch him buy clothes from Yves Saint Laurent but nothing for me." Britt went on to claim Rod used to borrow her underwear: "He did used to like to wear my underwear though," she said. "He would wear these baggy satin trousers and needed little satin pants. Rod would wear my knickers. He liked them." In addition to her courtship with Stewart, the Swedish born Ekland is known for being a Bond girl, starring as Mary Goodnight in the 1974 film The Man with the Golden Gun alongside Roger Moore. In an odd twist, Ekland briefly dated actor George Hamilton before her relationship with Rod, and Hamilton's wife, Alana Hamilton, would later leave him for Rod -- when the singer was dating Britt. Describing the moment she found out Stewart had been unfaithful, she said: "George Hamilton told me, 'Oh how funny, [Alana] has just left me for your ex-boyfriend.'" "Suddenly a light went on and I thought 'Rod'," Ekland says. "I got in the car and drove home. I wanted to throw up. He never said sorry. Never. I wish he had. I think that would have brought it to an end. I think it is only fair to do that." - DailyMail.co.uk, 1/20/20..... Mic Gillette, first trumpet and founding member of the '70s Oakland funk outfit Tower of Power, has died at age 64 after suffering a heart attack. Gillette played a bevy of brass instruments alongside trumpet throughout his tenure in Tower of Power, including trombone, flugelhorn and tuba. Along with Tower of Power, Gillette was a member of two Bay Area funk bands, Cold Blood and the Sons of Champlin, and for a time played with Blood, Sweat and Tears. Both on his own and as a member of the Tower of Power horn section, he recorded with an array of artists including the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Santana, Sheryl Crow and Rod Stewart. After years of touring, he left Tower of Power in the mid-'80s to focus on raising his family, but continued to work as a session musician and record solo material with his own Mic Gillette Band. While Gillette rejoined Tower of Power for a reunion tour in 2009, he continued to focus on teaching music to East Bay middle and high schoolers. - The San Francisco Chronicle, 1/19/20...... David Olney, an underappreciated Nashville singer/songwriter whose work was recorded by the likes of Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Del McCoury and others, died of an apparent heart attack while performing onstage at the 30A Songwriters Festival in Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., on Jan. 18. He was 71. The Rhode Island native moved to Nashville in 1973 and later formed the rock group The X-Rays. He released the first of over two dozen solo albums, Eye of the Storm, in 1986. "Olney was in the middle of his third song when he stopped, apologized and shut his eyes," his singer/songwriter friend Amy Rigby wrote in a Facebook post. "I just want the picture to be as graceful and dignified as it was, because it at first looked like he was just taking a moment," she added. - Billboard, 1/19/2020.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on January 17th, 2020



Music streams of Rush songs are up 776% after the death of drummer Neil Peart, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. After Peart's death was first reported on Jan. 10, on-demand audio and video stream's of the band's back catalog increased to a combined 24.54 million -- up 776.4% as compared to the previous four days (2.8 million on Jan. 6-9). Rush's most-streamed tunes during the Jan. 10-13 period was the 1981 hit "Tom Sawyer," with 2.82 million streams (up 305% as compared to the 698,000 streams it registered Jan. 6-9). Sales of Rush songs grew by 2,304% to 19,000 (from 1,000), while the group's album sales gained 1,820% to 6,000 (up from a negligible figure). It is expected that Rush's The Spirit of Radio: Greatest Hits 1974 - 1987 will also re-enter the Billboard Hot 200 album chart for the week ending Jan. 25. Rush also dominates the LyricFind U.S. and global chart dated Jan. 18, led by "Tom Sawyer," which bows at No. 1 on both lists. The band is responsible for 23 of the 25 positions on the Global survey and 18 of the 25 spots on the U.S. ranking. The LyricFind charts rank the fastest-momentum-gaining tracks in lyric-search queries and usages globally and in the U.S. Peart, 67, died on Jan. 7 after a 3-year battle with cancer. - Billboard, 1/16/20...... The Doobie BrothersMarc BolanSeventies acts T. Rex and the Doobie Brothers are among the six artists inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Jan. 15, the Cleveland-based hall and museum announced on Jan. 15. T. Rex producer Tony Visconti, who helmed the group's key albums between 1970-73, noted that T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan and his band "have inspired hundreds of bands and record production over the years" and the legendary glam-rock outfit" is still loved by millions of fans and their music will still continue to inspire future musicians." Tom Johnston of the Doobie Brothers, who kick off a 50th anniversary tour on May 23 in Los Cabos, Mexico, says that "everybody's pretty jazzed" about the RRHOF induction news, especially since it was the Doobies' first time on the ballot after being eligible since 1971, while later Doobies recruit Michael McDonald added "everybody's really excited about this and looking forward to getting together with all the other guys and having that evening together to celebrate." Also selected were Depeche Mode, Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails and The Notorious B.I.G. Of the six acts, only Depeche Mode and NIN were previously nominated, who were inducted on their respective third nominations. The rest are first-time nominees, with all but Notorious B.I.G having been eligible for many years. Longtime Bruce Springsteen manager Jon Landau, who guided the Boss's career in its early days, and longtime Eagles manager Irving Azoff, were also chosen to be honored with an Ahmet Ertegun Award. Those nominated but not inducted include Pat Benatar, Dave Matthews Band, Judas Priest, Kraftwerk, MC5, Motorhead, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, Todd Rundgren, Soundgarden and Thin Lizzy. The latest inductees will become official on May 2 at the 35th Annual RRHOF induction ceremony, which for the first time ever will be broadcast live on HBO. This year's ceremony takes place at the Public Auditorium in Cleveland. Tickets go on sale Feb. 27 and participating performers and inductees will be announced at a later date. - Billboard, 1/15/20...... In other awards news, Aerosmith will be honored during Grammy Week in April as the 2020 MusiCares Person of the Year during The Recording Academy's 30th-anniversary benefit gala. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees will be honored for their philanthropic achievements and join an elite group of past award recipients that includes Dolly Parton, Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty, Lionel Richie, Bob Dylan and Carole King. Aerosmith is being honored for its philanthropic organization Janie's Fund, which frontman Steven Tyler established in 2015 to coincide with the song's 26th anniversary. The charity is dedicated to helping emotionally and behaviorally troubled children across America. The band, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2020, will continue the second year of its Las Vegas "Deuces Are Wild" residency through this June, followed by an arena/stadium tour of Europe. - Billboard, 1/14/2020...... Steve MillerThe Steve Miller Band will be among the headliners at the second annual BeachLife Fest 2020, set for L.A. County's South Bay beach area on May 1-3. It will be SMB's only Southern California appearance of 2020. Also performing will be Counting Crows, UB40 and The Marley Brothers. This year's BeachLife will include a Yacht Rock Brunch starring Ambrosia and Friends with special guests Stephen Bishop ("On and On"), John Ford Coley ("I'd Really Love to See you Tonight"), and Elliot Lurie ("Brandy You're A Fine Girl"). Sugar Ray will also host a weekend brunch set against a backdrop of raised mimosas and palm trees and the laid-back oceanside event. Tickets can be acquired at Beachlifefestival.com. - Billboard, 1/16/20...... Meanwhile, Steve Miller is among the inductees of the 2020 Songwriters Hall of Fame, it was announced on CBS This Morning on Jan. 16. Miller was present during the announcement, saying it "feels delightful... it's really a great, great honor." Explaining why the nod was so important to him, the 76-year-old singer and guitar wizard said, "the songs are the most important part of everything. To be honored this way is unexpected." Also inducted into the SHOF were Mariah Carey, The Isely Brothers, The Eurythmics, and songwriter Rick Nowels, who has penned hits for Madonna, Dido, Adele and Lana Del Rey. - Billboard, 1/16/20...... Legendary singer José Feliciano will release his latest album, Behind This Guitar, on Jan. 31. Produced by Rick Jarrard, the album features a rendition of Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain," and Feliciano has shared a video of his version of the song on YouTube. The eight-track Behind This Guitar, which also includes a new recording of José's classic holiday hit "Feliz Navidad," marks the first time the musician has recorded in Nashville. "Once the (instrumental) tracks were done in Nashville I went to my sound tech's studio in Connecticut and did the vocals and we put it together and I'm really happy with how it came out," Feliciano noted. "I think it has real hit potential." Feliciano is set to appear at a special event Feb. 11 at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. The musician, who this year marks the 55th anniversary of his first album release, is also working on a memoir as well as a documentary about his life and career. - Billboard, 1/16/20...... Bruce Springsteen and wife Patti Scialfa were proudly on hand to see their 25-year-old son, Sam Springsteen, sworn in as one of 15 new firefighters with the Jersey City Fire Department on Jan. 14. The Boss and Scialfa sat in the front row as their 25-year-old son was sworn into the newest class. "We're very proud," Bruce told reporters at the ceremony. "We're just excited for him today." - AP, 1/14/20...... Donald FagenSteely Dan and Steve Winwood have announced a co-headlining 2020 summer tour set to kick off June 2 in Portland, Ore. Their 23-date "Earth After Hours" tour will also visit such cities as Auburn, Wash. (6/4), Los Angeles (6/8), Phoenix, Ariz. (6/11), Atlanta, Ga. (6/19), Memphis, Tenn. (6/20), Toronto, Ont. (6/23), Cincinnati, Oh. (6/28), and Holmdel, N.J. (7/10) before wrapping on July 11 at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, N.Y. Steely Dan lead vocalist and keyboardist Donald Fagen has continued to perform live under the Steely Dan name since the band's co-founder, multi-instrumentalist and backing vocalist, Walter Becker, died of complications from esophageal cancer in 2017. - Billboard, 1/15/20...... An ambitious 40-city Foreigner summer tour with openers Kansas has been announced to launch on July 9 in Albuquerque, N.M. Hitting such major markets as Indianapolis, St. Louis, Detroit, Chicago, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Boston, Toronto, Birmingham, Jacksonville and Nashville, the band's "Juke Box Heroes" tour will close out in September with three shows in Texas. "We can't wait to hit the road with our good friends Kansas and Europe and bring all our biggest hits to cities across the country," Foreigner founding member Mick Jones in a release. "We always have such a good time together, and combined we share some of the greatest songs in rock and roll. We are so excited to see our fans from coast to coast, and plan to make this summer our most epic tour yet!" Prior to the tour, Foreigner will launch 2020 with a three-day run at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Tennessee with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra from Jan. 16-18 before the group's residency at The Venetian in Las Vegas, which kicks off Jan. 24. Meanwhile, tourmates Kansas also plan to release their 16th studio album this summer. - Billboard, 1/13/20...... Randy Newman issued a statement on Jan. 15 saying he's been forced to cancel his upcoming tour of Australia and New Zealand due to a longer-than-expected recovery period from recent surgery. Newman had been set to kick off his seven-date tour on Feb. 2 at Melbourne's Hamer Hall, then play shows in Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane, then head east for his first ever New Zealand trek, taking in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. "I couldn't be more sorry, I really couldn't," said Newman in a statement. "I had a hip operation, and I thought I was going to get better, but I'm not. And I'm losing feeling in three fingers on my left hand. Not that I ever had a great left hand in the first place, but it's hard to play." Newman was recently nominated for a best original song Oscar (his 13th) for "I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away" from Toy Story 4, and for best original score for Marriage Story. Elton John and Bernie Taupin, fresh off their Golden Globe win for best original song for "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" from Rocketman, were also nominated for an Oscar in the best original song category. - Billboard, 1/15/20...... Meat Loaf has filed a lawsuit against a hotel at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and organizers of a horror convention held there, blaming them for negligence when he fell from a stage while answering questions from convention goers last May. Meat Loaf, whose real name is Michael Lee Aday, and his wife Deborah filed the suit on Jan. 13 in a state district court in Fort Worth, Tex., against the Hyatt Corp. and Texas Frightmare Weekend LLC. The lawsuit alleges the defendants hung curtains at the back edge of the stage at the Hyatt Regency DFW hotel that hid where the stage ended, creating a "hidden hazard." Meat Loaf, 72, incurred severe neck, collarbone and shoulder injuries that have prevented him from performing since, according to the complaint. It says he spent 42 days hospitalized after the fall and required him to undergo physical therapy. - AP, 1/14/20...... SantanaLegendary guitarist and longtime cannabis advocate Carlos Santana has announced he's getting into the marijuana business. On Jan. 15, Santana announced a partnership with Left Coast Ventures, a cannabis and hemp company headquartered in Santa Rosa, California. Santana will develop premium cannabis and hemp CBD brands for the company that are influenced by his Latin heritage, while "incorporating his divine philosophies" with strains and products that "promote the spiritual consciousness and wellness effects" of the drug. "Cannabis is a window or a door to different awareness of consciousness," said Santana in a statement. "It gives you the choice to perceive through a different filter of awakening and healing, the misperception of distance as an illusion, which keeps you from being centered in your essence-core. It helps you arrive at knowing, accepting and owning a quality of life that is being with joy!" Santana's pot brand is expected for a summer 2020 launch and will be available to buy in select dispensaries in California; the line will include flower and pre-rolls upon release. The hemp CBD brand, which will include topicals with formulations inspired by Santana's own family, is slated for release in the fall. - Billboard, 1/15/20...... Queen + Adam Lambert and Alice Cooper have been confirmed as headliners of a Sydney Bushfire Relief Concert at Sydney's ANZ Stadium on Feb. 16. All profits and contributions will go to various wildfire relief charities that will help victims of devastating Australian bushfires that have taken dozens of lives, destroyed thousands of homes and razed more than 12 million hectares, an area roughly the size of the states of Vermont and New Hampshire, combined. The massive nine-hour-plus concert will be hosted by actor and comedian Celeste Barber, who has already raised more than A$50 million ($35 million) towards bushfire relief via her own online appeal. Other headliners include Amy Shark, Baker Boy, Conrad Sewell, Daryl Braithwaite, Guy Sebastian and Icehouse. - Billboard, 1/13/20...... David Bowie is set to be honored by having a Paris street named after him, it was announced on Jan. 13. Paris mayor Jerome Coumet, a professed fan of the late rock icon, said that a new road near Austerlitz station in the southeast of the French capital would be named after Bowie. Revealing that Bowie "had a strong link with the City of Lghts," Coumet added that "the naming must be approved by the Paris council in February," something he says normally happens without a problem. Jan. 10 marked the fourth anniversary of Bowie's death, and the musician's 48-year-old son, Duncan Jones, and Bowie's wife of almost 24 years, Iman, paid tribute to him in a series of touching social media posts. Jones posted a photograph of Bowie on holiday via Twitter, captioned "Dad relaxing happily in the Australian outback," adding "Always alive when he's in here - [heart emoji]." Iman took to Instagram to pay tribute to her late husband with a picture of the two together, as well as a separate post featuring the words: "Sometimes memories sneak out of my eyes and roll down my cheeks." - New Musical Express, 1/13/20...... Star Wars actor Mark Hamill is praising a Flagstaff, Ariz., record store for returning a Star Wars: A New Hope soundtrack LP that had been a gift from film composer John Williams that he hadn't seen since the 1990s. The record was one of numerous Star Wars items brought in to sell by a woman after her father's death in 2018. Micheil Salmons, the store's general manager, said they eventually tried reaching out to Hamill via social media. The actor confirmed it was genuine, and the vinyl was sent back to him. Micheil Salmons, the store's general manager, said they reached out via social media to Hamill, who confirmed it was genuine, and the vinyl was sent back to him. Hamill said in a tweet that it felt "totally unexpected & positively surreal" to get back the record he hadn't seen since the early 1990s. "I happily offered to sign any (Star Wars) items they sent me," the actor wrote. Williams had written on the vinyl's sleeve: "Dear Mark Hamill, May the force always be with us." - AP, 1/14/20...... Rory GallagherA posthumous release by late Irish rocker Rory Gallagher, Check Shirt Wizard - Live in '77, has been released via Chess/UMC Records. The 20-song, previously unreleased, set is culled from four shows (London, Brighton, Sheffield and Newcastle) during an early 1977 tour across the UK in support of Rory's then latest album Calling Card. Featuring live versions of tracks from that album as well as songs from Gallagher's 1975 set Against The Grain other live favorites, the new album has been mixed from the original multi track tapes from the Rory archive, which were recorded at the Rolling Stones and Jethro Tull's mobile studios and mastered at Abbey Road. Gallagher's most popular albums have always been his live ones, such as Live! In Europe, Irish Tour '74 and Stage Struck. Check Shirt Wizard - Live in '77, is available to pre-order from https://RoryGallagher.lnk.to/CSW. Renowned for his blistering live performances and highly respected for his dedication to his craft, Gallagher died in 1995, aged 47. - Noble PR, 1/15/20...... Chris Darrow, a former member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, has died of as yet undisclosed causes at age 75. In the 1960s, the South Dakota native and Claremont, Calif. transplant became acquainted with Chris Hilman of The Byrds, who had a profound influence on his transition from bluegrass and folk to rock music. He went on to form the genre-bending rock band Kaleidoscope, recording several albums before his joining influential country-rockers the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1967. Darrow worked with the band on two albums, and appeared in the Clint Eastwood movie, Paint Your Wagon, before forming the band The Corvettes, who became the touring band for Linda Ronstadt. Darrow also had a prolific solo career, releasing a total of 10 records between 1972 and 2006, and worked with such notable artists as Leonard Cohen and James Taylor. - 1/16/20.

David Lee Roth kicked off a 2020 Vegas residency at the House of Blues on Jan. 8 with a mixture of rants, unabashed peacocking, and non sequitors like "my inner child is Edward James Olmos." The 65-year-old former Van Halen singer observed Elvis Presley's Jan. 8 birthday by popping onstage in a bedazzled leather jacket that resembled one of Elvis' famous jumpsuits, and during a version of the VH classic "Unchained," sported a pompadour wig and gave a shout out to the King on what would have been his 85th birthday. Roth also indulged in long stories about his childhood in Detroit as well as his early days with VH as they hosted illegal wet T-shirt contests at a Van Nuys Boulevard nightclub. His sets included "Running With the Devil," "Just Like Paradise, "Just a Gigolo" and "California Girls," forgetting the words to the latter in one particularly cringy moment. Conveying how much he loves spontaneity, Roth told the audience that no two shows of his residency would be the same. Meanwhile, Roth earlier told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that his VH bandmate Eddie Van Halen is "not doing well" and suggested Eddie's performing ability has deteriorated because he hasn't been active since their last reunion tour in 2015 ."Ed's not doing well, and singing and dancing is a perishable skill," Roth said of the 64-year-old guitarist. "If you have the capacity, it's something that has to be used routinely, if not for the thrill of it and the magic of creating with other incandescent spirits." Roth did not address recent reports in the media that Eddie has allegedly been battling cancer again, allegedly secretly battling the disease for five years and making secret trips between the US and Germany to receive radiation treatment. Eddie, a former heavy smoker and alcoholic, has a lengthy health history, having undergone hip replacement surgery in November 1999, after being diagnosed with chronic avascular necrosis years earlier. In 2000, he began receiving treatment for tongue cancer and the subsequent surgery removed a third of his tongue. - Billboard/Music.News.com, 1/10/20...... Neil PeartThe rock world is mourning the loss of legendary Rush drummer Neil Peart, who died in California on Jan. 7 at age 67 after a battle with brain cancer. Canada's CBC first reported the news on Jan. 10, citing information from Peart's publicist, Elliott Mintz. Considered one of the best drummers in rock history with Modern Drummer listing him at No. 3 in a 2014 all-time ranking list, Peart also made his mark on the larger pop culture as seen through references in TV shows like Freaks and Geeks, Archer and Family Guy. Born in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1952, Peart became infatuated with music at an early age and started playing the drums after his parents bought him a pair of drum sticks for his 13th birthday. After moving to the U.K. at 18 to make it as a professional musician, he returned to Canada, where in 1974 he auditioned for singer/bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson to replace John Rutsey as drummer for the band Rush. Although his audition was rocky, Lee and Lifeson decided to give Peart a chance, and the new trio started playing live gigs just weeks later. Though Lee had written the lyrics on the group's first album with Rutsey, he happily ceded the role to Peart, whose songwriting focus was heavily influenced by his studies of objectivist Ayn Rand while he had lived in England. The visionary drummer's style, both manic and intricate, would also help come to define the band's virtuosic prog-rock sound. Born in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1952, Peart became infatuated with music at an early age and started playing the drums after his parents bought him a pair of drum sticks for his 13th birthday. After moving to the U.K. at 18 to make it as a professional musician, he returned to Canada, where in 1974 he auditioned for singer/bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson to replace John Rutsey as drummer for the band Rush. The trio would record five albums over the next half-decade, spanning from 1975's Fly by Night to 1978's Hemispheres, building the band's cult reputation at home and abroad. Neil PeartThe most successful of these efforts was 1976's 2112, whose 20-minute opening title suite took up the record's entire first side and set new standards for classical composition in late-'70s arena rock. It made the top five on the Canadian albums chart and was ultimately certified triple-platinum by the RIAA in the U.S. The Canadian power-trio's most successful period would come early in the next decade, though, with the release of 1980's Permanent Waves and 1981's Moving Pictures -- the latter giving the group their first chart-topping album in their home country. The two sets sold well and together spawned classic rock standards like "The Spirit of Radio," "Limelight" and "Tom Sawyer," emphasizing both the group's highly melodic and anthemic songwriting and their peerless instrumentation, including Peart's iconic drum fills in "Sawyer" and the oft-imitated instrumental "YYZ." Rush released a statement on Jan. 10 confirming the news, writing: "It is with broken hearts and the deepest sadness that we must share the terrible news that on Tuesday our friend, soul brother and band mate of over 45 years, Neil, has lost his incredibly brave three and a half year battle with brain cancer (Glioblastoma). We ask that friends, fans, and media alike understandably respect the family's need for privacy and peace at this extremely painful and difficult time. Those wishing to express their condolences can choose a cancer research group or charity of their choice and make a donation in Neil's name. Rest in peace brother." - Billboard, 1/10/20...... Cher has set a personal touring career record in 2019 with the final dates of her ongoing "Here We Go Again Tour," which raised the diva's calendar-year gross to $108.2 million. The tour earned $14.1 million and sold 109,521 tickets according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. Cher earned $3.8 million at New York's Madison Square Garden on Dec. 3-4 and sold out at 27,495 tickets over both nights at the Manhattan arena, while breaking the $1.5 million mark with single-night stops throughout Texas at Houston's Toyota Arena, San Antonio's AT&T Center and the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The dates raised Cher's calendar-year gross to $108.2 million, making it the biggest year of her touring career in Boxscore history. Her previous bests were in 2002 and 2003, the first years of the "Living Proof Tour," when she grossed $75.4 million and $68.5 million, respectively. Coming in at No. 7 and No. 8 on the Boxscore chart were Rod Stewart and Billy Joel, respecively. - Billboard, 1/10/20..... Nielsen Music is reporting that vinyl album sales in the US grew to a new yearly high in 2019 for the 14th consecutive year, led by the Beatles who sold 471,000 copies sold across their entire catalog, more than any other artist. Vinyl sales climbed to 18.84 million units sold in 2019 (up 14.5%), and represented 16.7% of all album sales for the year. In 2018, the format accounted for 11.9% of all album sales. The Beatles also had the top-selling vinyl album of 2019, with Abbey Road. The set, first released in 1969, sold 246,000 copies on wax in 2019, thanks in part to its deluxe 50th anniversary reissue. The set topped the weekly Billboard Hot 200 album chart for 11 weeks in late 1969 and early 1970. Other '70s related acts in the top 10 vinyl sales for 2019 include Queen (No. 2; 345,000), Pink Floyd (No. 4; 217,000), Fleetwood Mac (No. 5; 149,000), Prince (No. 7; 140,000), Led Zeppelin (No. 8; 134,000) and Michael Jackson (No. 9; 127,000). - Billboard, 1/9/20...... In other vinyl news, Bruce Springsteen announced on Instagram on Jan. 11 that he will be reissuing five of his albums on vinyl, many of which have not been available on the format since their original releases. They include 18 Tracks (1999), Live in New York City (2001), The Rising (2002), Devils & Dust (2005) and Live in Dublin (2007). The records, transferred from the original source masters, will go on sale Feb. 21. Each of the five albums cover the period when Springsteen was reunited with the E Street Band, whom he'd previously worked with between 1972 and 1989. The Rising, recorded in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, marks the first album recorded together since the band rejoined him in 1999. - New Musical Express, 1/12/20...... Graceland Auctions has announced a three-wheeled golf cart once owned by Elvis Presley is among hundreds of Elvis memorabilia items that will be put on the auction block in support of the Elvis Presley Foundation. According to GA, the cart is over 50 years old, and was indeed owned by The King himself: "Shortly after Elvis and Priscilla married in Las Vegas on May 1, 1967, the couple spent the next several weeks in Memphis enjoying time together at Graceland and on May 18, 1967, Elvis purchased a white Harley-Davidson golf cart from Taylor Harley-Davidson in Memphis." The website states the singer rarely actually played golf, however, instead using the cart for travel more easily around his estate. The cart, which includes a white "1-ELVIS" license plate, was previously available for public viewing at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. - NME, 1/8/20...... David BowieParlophone Records has announced it will mark what would have been David Bowie's 73rd birthday on Jan. 8 with two posthumous projects. The first is a nine-track album due out on 2020 Record Store Day (April 18) on vinyl and CD for the first time entitled ChangesNowBowie, culled from a 1996 session with longtime bassist Gail Ann Dorsey, guitarist Reeves Gabrels and producer Mark Plati during rehearsals for a 50th birthday Madison Square Garden show. As the first taste of that project, Parlophone has released a mostly acoustic version of Bowie's beloved 1970 track "The Man Who Sold The World," which will also appear on a six-song EP of unreleased and rare tracks, "David Bowie Is It Any Wonder?," slated to be released in weekly batches over the next six weeks beginning on Jan. 17. The EP features tracks originally recorded for radio and broadcast by the BBC on Bowie's 50th birthday on Jan. 8, 1997, with a cover image taken by renowned photographer Albert Watson in 1996. Bowie's latest birthday was also marked with a 30-minute experimental film of the late rock icon shot by friend/collaborator Prof. Martin Richardson which was played for a select group of 300 Bowie fans on Friday Jan. 10 at the U.K.'s Leicesters's National Space Centre to mark four years since's the singer's passing. The 35mm film of Bowie walking towards a camera and striking various poses had reportedly been stored in a box at Leicester's De Montfort University for several years and was used to produce a moving hologram for the 1999 Hours album. Meanwhile, Bowie and fellow late pop star George Michael have been named among the most influential people in British history with their recent addition to The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. The two musicians, as well as legendary late Beatles producer Sir George Martin, are among 228 contemporary figures who have been added to the book's newest edition. New entries are only allowed to be added following their death, with all of 2020's additions having died in 2016. They bring the the total number of articles in the dictionary to 61,411, which covers the lives of 63,693 people. - Billboard/New Musical Express, 1/9/20...... Elton John has announced he's pledging $1million to to help combat the bushfires in Australia that have been raging since September. John announced his donation while making a plea on behalf of the nation's endangered animals and affected citizens. "We should all be in the awe of the work the firefighters are doing," John, 72, said. "There are people out there who have lost their lives trying to save homes, there are people who have lost their lives and their homes. And lastly, there's the plight of the animals, a loss of their habitat that, frankly, is on a biblical scale and it's heartbreaking. Therefore tonight, I will be pledging $1 million dollars to support the bushfire relief fund." The fires have consumed more than 18 million acres in Australia during the nation's most disastrous fire season in history, and 130 blazes continue to burn out of control, taking the lives of at least 25 to date. Elton joins the likes of Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman, The Wiggles, Kylie Minogue and P!nk who have made six-figure donations or scheduled benefit concerts to aid firefighting cause. On Jan. 9, Queen guitarist Brian May revealed that the band have been asked to play a Live Aid style benefit concert for victims of the bushfires. Concert promoters TEG Live and TEG Dainty have announced the benefit gig "Fire Fight Australia" to raise funds, with the show confirmed fo Feb. 16, but as yet no acts have been confirmed. Queen has seven gigs scheduled in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and the Gold Coast from February 13 to 29, with their schedule currently clear on Feb. 16. "Of course, we are going there very soon, we are looking at it very carefully" May said recently outside parliament in Westminster, where he was promoting the Save Me Trust's "Amazing Grace Campaign" to help Britain's hedgehogs. - Billboard/NME, 1/7/20...... Ozzy OsbourneOzzy Osbourne shared the title track from his upcoming album Ordinary Man on YouTube on Jan. 10, which features his surprise collaboration with Elton John. "Ordinary Man" sees Ozzy singing the first verse backed by Elton on piano, before Elton contributes vocals during the second verse. Ozzy also revealed the cover artwork for Ordinary Man, his first LP since 2010's Scream, and additional contributors including Post Malone, Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash, and Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello. "It all just came together," Osbourne said in a press release. "Slash is a dear friend of mine, as is Elton. When I was writing 'Ordinary Man', it reminded me of an old Elton song and I said to [wife] Sharon Osbourne, 'I wonder if he would sing on it?' We asked and lo and behold, he agreed and sings and play piano on the song," he added. Osbourne's backing band on the LP also includes Guns & Roses' Duff McKagan, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and producer Andrew Watt on guitar. Ordinary Man drops on Feb. 21. Meanwhile, Sharon Osbourne has slammed Prince Harry and his wife Megan Markle's decision to step back from royal life, insisting they should have waited until Queen Elizabeth retired. Sharon says the Duke and Duchess of Sussex "should be able to do what they want... it's 2020." "However, his family are royal, for thousands of years. And to respect that family, you go to your family; you tell them how you feel; you say, let's sort this out," Sharon said on her daytime TV show The Talk. "The queen has said that within the next 18 months she's going to retire, which means that Harry's dad, Prince Charles, will be King. So, you know what, you wait until the Queen's retired." But Sharon added that Duchess Megan has some new career plans in mind and will have set her sights on teaming up with big names in the US. "My prediction is, that she'll end up doing something with Oprah [Winfrey] and Michelle Obama." - Billboard/Music-News.com, 1/10/20...... Aretha Franklin's son Kecalf has called for a boycott of the upcoming Aretha biopic Respect, which is due to hit theaters in late 2020 and stars Jennifer Hudson after she was handpicked by the Queen of Soul herself for the the title role. But Respect failed to garner the support of Franklin's wider family, after Kecalf threatened to boycott it in a lengthy Facebook post. "Once again The Franklin Family (Does Not) support the movie that is in production," he wrote on Facebook. "Nor do we support the book 'The Queen Next Door'!!! Neither entity felt the need to contact the (core) family about anything." Kecalf also took issue with the 2019 book The Queen Next Door: Aretha Franklin, An Intimate Portrait, which is thought to have provided inspiration for the movie. "How can you make a movie about a person and not talk to the person's sons or grandchildren about important information," he said. "How can you put a person's family in a book and not ask permisssion? If you are a real fan of my mothersplease do not support this. Ask yourself -- would you want this done to you. Note: the only person my mother was in favor of for the movie was Jennifer Hudson," he added. In 2019, Aretha was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize, almost a year after her death. - NME, 1/9/20...... "MJ," the new Broadway show based on the life and career of Michael Jackson, will hold an open casting call in Detroit during the week of Jan. 12 as part of several audition sessions coming up across the US. The show is reportedly seeking performers who can play the late star at various life stages, including Jackson as a 10-year-old, as a teenager, and around aged 30, according to the Detroit Free Press. "MJ," penned by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Lynn Nottage and choreographed by Tony Award winner Christopher Wheeldon, will arrive on Broadway to previews on July 6 before its official opening on August 13 at the Neil Simon Theatre. - NME, 1/7/20...... The ABC television network announced on Jan. 9 that it is partnering with movie director Mel Brooks for its newest live musical event, Young Frankenstein Live!, which will be based on the 2007 Broadway musical adaptation of Brooks' classic 1974 film of the same name. Produced by the show's creator Brooks, Young Frankenstein Live! is expected to premiere in fall 2020 and feature Brooks' music that he composed from the Broadway adaptation. Brooks also co-wrote and directed the 1974 comedy film which parodied Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and starred Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle. - ComingSoon.net, 1/9/20...... Buck HenryLegendary screenwriter Buck Henry, best known for his work on the classic 1967 film The Graduate and for co-creating the '60s spy comedy series Get Smart!, died of a heart attack on Jan. 8 at Cedars-Sinai Health Center in Los Angeles. He was 89. Mr. Henry scored a pair of Oscar nominations -- one for his adapted screenplay for The Graduate and another for co-directing (with Warren Beatty) the 1978 movie Heaven Can Wait. He also won a writing Emmy in 1967 for Get Smart!, the spy spoof he created with Mel Brooks, among many other accolades. Mr. Henry later became a familiar face to a new generation of TV viewers in the 1970s by hosting Saturday Night Live several times during its first five seasons. On SNL he might be best remembered as John Belushi's foil in the classic "Samurai" skits, as well as Uncle Roy, who menaced children he was babysitting. Born Buck Zuckerman in New York City on Dec. 9, 1930, Mr. Henry got his start writing for Steve Allen and Garry Moore's TV shows in the 1960s, including That Was The Week That Was, before penning the script for The Graduate, Mike Nichols' seminal film starring Dustin Hoffman, Katharine Ross and Anne Bancroft. The film scored seven Oscar noms including Best Picture, with Nichols winning Best Director. The film also made the top 10 in the AFI's "100 Years -100 Movies" list in 1998. Mr. Henry would focus his screenwriting on the big screen during the 1970s, penning such films as The Owl and the Pussycat, Is There Sex After Death?, the Barbra Streisand-starred What's Up, Doc?, and The Day of the Dolphin. He had appeared onscreen in numerous films and comedy shows by the mid-'70s when he was chosen to host Saturday Live Night during its first season in 1976. Appearing alongside the Not Ready for Primetime Players, he would go on to host nine more times through 1980, becoming the first SNL host to hit double digits. His later screenwriting credits include To Die For (1995) and Town & Country (2001). In addition to Heaven Can Wait, his other directing credit includes Candy in 1968, whose cast included Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, James Coburn and Walter Matthau. - Deadline.com, 1/8/20.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on January 7th, 2020



Gene Simmons of KISS kicked off 2020 with a Twitter post that launched a heated debate about adding ice to his milk and cereal. "Anyone else put ice cubes in their cereal?," Simmons simply asked alongside photos of his concoction: Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats and Oreo O's in a bowl of milk, with a number of large ice cubes floating around. The result was a flooded comment section filled with people who were disgusted at the idea of watered-down milk, and others who have been adding ice to their go-to breakfast their whole lives. Simmons' son, Nick Simmons, even hilariously chimed in that he's experienced "30 years watching him do this. This is my life." - Billboard, 1/2/2020...... A Huddleston, Va. woman named Beth Bays has created a 15-foot-tall hay sculpture of Willie Nelson that has struck a chord with the community. Bays has been making giant hay bale sculptures for the last eight years, and her most memorable ones include characters from The Wizard of Oz and the Virginia Tech "Hokie" bird mascot. Bays' Nelson sculpture, which she branded "Will-Hay Nelson," can be viewed on Instagram. - AP, 1/3/2020...... Rod StewartRod Stewart and his 39-year-old son Sean Stewart are due to appear in a Palm Beach court on Feb. 5 after the pair were involved in a New Year's Eve scuffle at the The Breakers hotel. According to court records, a security guard named Jessie Dixon told police officers that Stewart's group was at the check-in table for a private party that they weren't authorized to attend. When the group became unruly and began causing a scene, Dixon said he put his hand on the younger Stewart's chest and told him to back up and make space, which prompted Sean Stewart to shove him backwards and go "nose to nose" with him, the report said. Rod, 74, then allegedly punched Dixon in his "left rib cage area" with a closed fist. Sean told investigators he became agitated when they were not able to attend the event "due to Dixon's interaction with him and his family." After viewing security footage, police determined the Stewarts were the "primary aggressors," and Dixon signed an affidavit saying that he wanted to press charges against the pair, who were both charged with simple battery and issued notices to appear in court on Feb. 5. Meanwhile, Rod Stewart announced on Jan. 7 that he'll launch a North American summer tour with openers Cheap Trick on July 1 in Cuyahoga Falls, Oh. The 21-city tour will visit mostly mid-size markets including Clarkston, Mich. (7/25), Hershey, Pa. (8/1), Wantagh, N.Y. (8/14), Columbia, Md. (8/15), and Maryland Heights, Mo. (9/2) before wrapping Tinley Park, Il. on Sept. 5. Stewart became the oldest solo male artist to top the U.K. pop charts in December with his latest album, You're In My Heart. - AP/Billboard, 1/7/20...... Ozzy Osbourne's wife Sharon Osbourne made a surprise announcement on her syndicated daytime TV show The Talk. on Jan. 7 that Ozzy is collaborating on a new song with Elton John. When asked about Ozzy's plans for 2020 after a year of health scares, Sharon told co-host Carrie Ann Inaba: "A lot of good things. Wellness. And to get back with his fans, to get doing what he loves, which is touring and being out there with his fans." Sharon continued: "And yes, there's new music, and it's great. He's got all his friends playing on it. He's doing a song with Elton. There's so much good stuff. Good things." News of the two rock icons' collaboration comes only a few days after Ozzy's daughter Kelly Osbourne dismissed what she described as "bullshit" reports that her famous dad was in "dire straits" and on his deathbead. "Today I had a wonderful start to 2020. I went out to lunch with my family," the 35-year-old posted on Instagram. "Then I spent the rest of the day laughing and hanging out with my dadI come home to read sickening articles about my dad supposedly being on his 'death bed' sometimes the media makes me sick!!," she added. On Jan. 6, Ozzy posted a video for "Straight to Hell," his second single from his upcoming album Ordinary Man, on YouTube. - NME, 1/7/20...... Meat LoafIn an interview with the U.K.'s Daily Mail on Jan. 3, Meat Loaf claimed that 17-year-old climate change activist Greta Thunberg has been "brainwashed" into believing in climate change. Meat Loaf said "I feel for Greta" and that she's been "brainwashed into thinking that there is climate change and there isn't... She hasn't done anything wrong but she's been forced into thinking that what she is saying is true." Thunberg, who has become an icon in the global environmental movement and inspired a number of protests and strikes, responded to the musician's words on Twitter on Jan. 7: "It's not about Meatloaf. It's not about me. It's not about what some people call me. It's not about left or right," she tweeted. "It's all about scientific facts. And that we're not aware of the situation. Unless we start to focus everything on this, our targets will soon be out of reach." Meat Loaf's interview also included his thoughts on his self-proclaimed "sex god" status, back surgeries, and his favorite TV shows. In 2019, he made headlines when he fell offstage during a speaking event and broke his collarbone. He has previously claimed that his health issues that resulted in him collapsing on stage at another event mean that he may never sing again. - Billboard/New Musical Express, 1/7/20...... Speaking of Greta Thunberg, Patti Smith penned an environmentally conscious poem for the young activist's 17th birthday on Jan. 3. Smith posted Thunberg's photo on her Instagram page and broke up the poem's stanzas within the caption: "This is/ Greta Thunberg, turning/ seventeen today, asking/ for no accolade, no gifts,/ save we not be neutral./ The Earth knows its kind,/ just as all deities, just as/ animals and the healing/ spring. Happy birthday/ to Greta, who stood today,/ as every Friday, refusing/ to be neutral," the punk poetess posted. The last three lines refer to Thunberg's weekly routine of heading to the front of the Swedish parliament building on Fridays with her "Skolstrejk fr klimatet" sign (which translates to "School strike for the climate") to demand action toward the global climate change crisis. - Billboard, 1/3/20...... The surviving members of the Allman Brothers Band announced on Jan. 3 that they'll be celebrating the ABB 50th anniversary with a show at Madison Square Garden in New York City on March 10. The concert will reunite drummer Jaimoe Johanson, guitarists Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks, bassist Oteil Burbridge and percussionist Marc Quinones under the name The Brothers. Also appearing will be "special guest" Chuck Leavell on keyboards. It will be the first performance of the ABB since Gregg Allman died following a battle with liver cancer in 2017 and the suicide of ABB drummer Butch Trucks. Founding guitarist Dickey Betts will not be at the show, having had a falling out with the band years ago. - Billboard, 1/3/20...... R&B/Funk legends The Isley Brothers have been confirmed as headliners for the 2020 Playboy Jazz Festival, set for L.A.'s Holywood Bowl on June 6 and 7. In addition to brothers Ronald and Ernie Isley, the lineup will include St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Terri Lyne Carrington and Social Science and Musiq Soulchild among several other artists, according to organizers the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association. The full talent lineup for the 42nd annual PJF will be announced on Feb. 18, along with the complete schedule for the Hollywood Bowl's summer 2020 season. Actor/comedian George Lopez will mark his eighth anniversary as festival host. - Billboard, 1/7/20...... Bernie TaupinElton JohnElton John and his longtime songwriting partner Bernie Taupin were honored with a best original song Golden Globe award during the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 5, 2020 in Beverly Hills, Calif. The duo took BOS trophies home for "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again," the new song they contributed to Rocketman, the kaleidoscopic musical biopic about Sir Elton's life. Incredibly, John noted it was the first award he and Taupin have won as a duo. "It's the first time I won an award with him. Ever," John said while accepting the award. "We never won a Grammy, we never did anything together except for this and I'm so happy, thank you very much." Taupin then added: "[The song] deals with our relationship... and a 52-year-old marriage... which doesn't happen very much in this town," he said, visibly moved. Elton, a five-time Grammy winner, did not win any of them with Taupin, who has been nominated twice, but has no wins. Since 6 of the last 10 Globe winners for best original song went on to win the Oscar, as did 7 of the last 10 Globe winners for best original score, John and Taupin could be considered as front-runners for the coveted Oscar. If John and Taupin's win for BOS was a mild surprise (facing competition from Beyoncé and Taylor Swift), Taron Egerton's win as Best Actor for a Musical or Comedy for portraying John in Rocketman was a flat-out shock, beating out heavily favored comeback king Eddie Murphy in Dolemite Is My Name. His award was well-earned however, as Egerton supplied his own vocals in the biopic, while 2019 Golden Globe winner Rami Malek did a lip-synced performance of Freddie Mercury in 2018's Bohemian Rhapsody. Egerton thanked Elton for allowing him the honor of portraying him onscreen. "To Elton John -- thank you for the music, for living a life less ordinary and for being my friend," he said. - Billboard, 1/5/20...... In an apparent attempt to avoid new EU copyright laws which went into effect on Jan. 1, a collection of about 130 rare and unpublished Rolling Stones recordings were published to the YouTube account 69RSTRAX shortly before the new year, then mysteriously removed within hours. Offering no immediate clue as to the identity of the publisher, a YouTube-mandated email address for 69RSTRAX directs business enquiries to ABKCO, a music publishing company that owns the rights to a substantial number of early Rolling Stones recordings. According to Variety, the publishing of the tracks might have been an attempt to avoid EU copyright laws and keep them out of the public domain on the 50th anniversary of their creation. Sound recordings are protected for 50 years after they are published, and can be extended to 70 years as long as they are "lawfully communicated to the public" within the first 50 years. Previously, some publishers, faced with similar issues, have released collections of recordings, such as the Beatles' 2013 album Bootleg Recordings 1963, and a limited-run Bob Dylan compilation album literally published as The Copyright Extension Collection, Volume 1. The Stones tracks included several near-complete 1969 concerts and multiple alternate studio versions of songs from the albums Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers, many of which have been available for decades on bootlegs -- along with many that have not. Variety note that while the brief release of the Stones recordings could extend their copyright, they are not sure whether a post on YouTube constitutes a publication as defined by European Union law. The 20-year extension to the 50-year copyright period was passed in Sept. 2011 by the Council of the European Union, which at the time claimed that the change was designed to benefit artists and songwriters. However, a number of artists decried the council's decision, noting that the extension would instead benefit record companies -- who in most cases retained ownership of sound recordings in the original record contracts -- rather than the musicians who wrote and performed them. - New Musical Express/Billboard, 1/3/20...... Michael JacksonAs anticipated, a California appeals court on Jan. 3 restored two lawsuits accusing Michael Jackson of child sexual abuse, after the state's statute of limitations on the crime was extended. The lawsuits were filed by Wade Robson in 2013 and James Safechuck in 2014, but were dismissed on the grounds that the statute of limitations had expired for both men. California law required such cases to be filed before the accuser's 26th birthday. However, in October 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new state law giving those who claim they were sexually abused as children until age 40 to file suit, effective Jan 1. In November, three judges from the 2nd District Court of Appeal said in a tentative ruling that in light of the new law, Safechuck and Robson's suits ought to be reconsidered. Now, the California judges have made that ruling official. While the new ruling does not address the truth of their allegations, it does give them the green light to proceed with their lawsuits against MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures, who they argue are liable for the alleged abuse. Howard Weitzman, attorney for the Estate of Michael Jackson, said that "The Court of Appeal specifically did not address the truth of these false allegations, and we are confident that both lawsuits will be dismissed and that Michael Jackson will be vindicated once again." - Billboard, 1/3/20...... The Grateful Dead spin-off band Dead & Company paid tribute to the band's legacy with a career-spanning New Year's Eve show at Chase Center in San Francisco on Dec. 31. Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton, the most iconic Deadhead, appeared as a seven-foot tall Father Time in a wizard-white beard, a resplendent crown of roses, to ring in the new year and decade. Dead & Co. band member John Mayer took photos as if he were a fan, and not the band's lead guitarist, tasked with the impossible role of reanimating the spirit of Jerry Garcia. Then a few thousand rainbow-colored balloons descended from the rafters to the floral strains of the GD classic "Sugar Magnolia." Three hours, three sets and 24 songs strong, it was encored with a rendition of the band's biggest pop hit, "Touch of Grey." It was the final show of a four-night "Fun Run" mini-tour by the band that included two stellar performances the previous week at The Forum in Los Angeles. In line with the band's storied tradition, the trip remained "long and strange." - Billboard, 1/2/2020.

A group of music publishing companies who own the rights to some of the most popular songs of all time filed a lawsuit in New York federal court on Dec. 30 against U.K.-based producer Coda Publishing, Marina del Rey-based distributor Vision Films, director Robert Carruthers and others over several documentaries released by the companies. The suit claims documentaries about the Rolling Stones (Their Satanic Majesties and Big Hits), ABBA (The Gold Singles), Elton John (In Performance), and Lynyrd Skynyrd (Rock Case Studies), along with documentaries about U2, Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers, "are nothing more than a delivery system for intentionally infringed materials." Online retail giant Amazon.com appears to have pulled the titles, but as of Jan. 1 some of them were still available for rental or purchase though Vimeo.com. The complaint asks the court to declare the defendants willfully infringed the copyrights, to order that all copies of the films be destroyed, and to award statutory damages of up to $150,000 per infringement or actual damages plus the defendants' profits. - The Hollywood Reporter, 1/1/20...... David Lee RothThe Washington Post has published an article by writer Nancy French who says she was given David Lee Roth's old phone number when she and her new husband moved from Tennessee to New York City in the 1980s, and began to receive sultry phone calls from several women asking to "speak to David." French said she would hand the phone to her husband who insisted it was a wrong number and hang up, but the calls caused her to question her marriage. "Maybe our relationship was all a ruse. I'd heard stories of people getting married only to realize their spouse had a double life," she wrote. Thankfully, Roth's agent finally called and cleared the confusion. "Apparently, [Roth] had changed his number right before we moved to Manhattan but still gave out his old number to women he met but wanted to let down easily," French wrote. "Later that year, he appeared on MTV with Van Halen. When rumors of them getting back together started flying, our phone rang with congratulations and invitations to exclusive parties." - Billboard, 12/30/19...... Vinyl album releases by Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, the Beatles, Queen and classic rock artists on a Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack have helped the vinyl LP format to top sales of 1 million in a single week for the first time in the Nielsen Music era. In the week ending Dec. 26, 2019, a whopping 1.243 million vinyl albums were sold. Vinyl albums were once the dominant format for album purchases in the U.S., up until the early 1980s. After that, cassettes took hold until the early 1990s, when the CD format flourished and become the leading format for album purchases. Of the top 10 single biggest weeks for the vinyl album format in the Nielsen Music era, five occurred in 2019, three in 2018, one in 2017 and one in 2015. It's expected that 2019 will mark yet another big year for vinyl, once the 2019 Nielsen Music tracking year closes on Jan. 2, 2020. - Billboard, 12/30/19...... In a new interview with the U.K. music mag Mojo, Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood recalled how his fellow Stones guitarist Keith Richards branded him a "weakling" after he attempted to ditch alcohol and drugs for the first time. Wood, who has been sober for a decade, said RIchards was dismissive of his efforts when he first attempted to get clean in 2005. "I do remember going on stage clean for the first time, it was at this club in Canada for the start of a tour (in August 2005)," Wood noted. "I was like this, ([terrified], and Mick [Jagger] whispered, 'It's alright, you can do it, don't worry.' But Wood said Richards was "trying to make out I was the weakling" by going "rehab's for quitters!" "But it takes a lot of strength to do this if indeed I'm gonna be able to do it at all because there's no guarantees," Wood said. Wood added that during a 2009 intervention when he began to relapse, "they took my counsellor away and got me so annoyed... You sometimes wonder if they want you to go out and drink again... It's big money for them." "So I left rehab and did it for myself I felt I knew what to do... Fellowship. I did 90 meetings in 90 days and I did the same again. Didn't need the rehab place -- I did it through the meetings." - New Musical Express, 1/31/19...... Officials in the U.K. apologized on Dec. 28 for mistakenly publishing the home addresses of more than 1,000 people who received special honors including pop singers Elton John and Olivia Newton-John, along with several Oscar-winning film directors, senior politicians and diplomats, popular athletes and people in sensitive defense roles. The addresses were published online for about an hour on the evening of Dec. 27 when the Cabinet Office posted the recipients of New Year's Honors, including knighthoods. "The information was removed as soon as possible," the Cabinet Office said in a statement. "We apologize to all those affected and are looking into how this happened." Officials said the individuals will be contacted about the error. The Information Commissioner's Office said it was investigating "in response to reports of a data breach involving the Cabinet Office and the New Year's Honors list." It can impose fines for privacy violations. Britain's Cabinet Office publishes a list of the people receiving honors for merit, service or bravery twice a year: shortly before New Year's Eve and on the Saturday in June when Queen Elizabeth II's birthday is officially observed. - AP, 12/28/19...... Actress Teri Garr, star of such blockbuster films as Young Frankenstein and Tootsie, is reportedly "fine" after being hospitalized on Dec. 30 for a "medical emergency." Garr, 75, was taken to a local medical center by ambulance, but her rep says the situation was much more minor than first implied, and said Garr had actually been suffering from dehydration, which led to confusion. "Teri is fine. She had some confusion which it turns out was caused by dehydration. To be cautious they are keeping her overnight and she'll be home tomorrow," the rep said. Garr has suffered health issues for years and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999. She also suffered a brain aneurysm in late 2006, but recovered and returned to acting until she retired in 2011. - WENN/Canoe.com, 12/31/19...... Neil InnesBritish songwriter and comedian Neil Innes, who collaborated with the Monty Python comedy troupe and co-founded the Beatles parody band The Rutles, died unexpectedly of natural causes on Dec. 29. He was 75. Innes wrote several original songs for Monty Python's sketch-comedy TV show, Monty Python's Flying Circus, as well as 1975's classic movie, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, in which he also appeared as an actor. Innes' years as a supporting player with Monty Python and his gift for wry and funny songwriting led to a long-running stint as co-leader of The Rutles, a fictional late-'70s Beatles pastiche that featured Monty Python's Eric Idle as the Paul McCartney stand-in, Dirk McQuickly, and Innes as the John Lennon stand-in, Ron Nasty. The Rutles ultimately became a "real" band, appearing on Saturday Night Live and recording a mockumentary film called All You Need Is Cash in 1978. Assorted Rutles reunions, tours, retrospectives and compilations have followed in the decades since. Innes released numerous solo albums over the years, beginning with 1973's How Sweet to Be an Idiot, and in 2010, the the Essex-born musician and writer formed a new group called the The Idiot Bastard Band. He is survived by wife Yvonne, their three sons and three grandchildren, who "give thanks for his life, for his music and for the joy he gave us all," according to a statement. - NPR.org, 12/30/19...... Songwriter/musician Allee Willis, who wrote the theme tune for the hit sitcom Friends as well as hits for such bands as Earth, Wind & Fire, the Pointer Sisters and Pet Shop Boys, died on Dec. 24 after suffering a sudden heart attack. She was 72. Willis co-wrote "I'll Be There For You," which went on to be recorded by The Rembrandts, with Friends creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman in 1995. She was nominated for an Emmy for the track in the same year, missing out on the award to the theme for Star Trek: Voyager. Willis moved to New York in 1969 where she worked as a copywriter at Columbia and Epic Records, getting her start as a songwriter three years later. Since then, songs penned by her have reportedly sold more than 60 million records around the world, while she was also nominated for two Grammys for her work on the soundtracks for Beverly Hills Cop and the musical version of The Color Purple. She was also responsible for tracks such as Earth, Wind & Fire's "September" and "Boogie Wonderland," the Pet Shop Boys/Dusty Springfield collaboration "What Have I Done To Deserve This," and the Pointer Sisters' "Neutron Dance." She once described "September" as being "that song that when people found out I'd written that, they just go, 'Oh my God' and then tell me in some form how happy that song makes them every time they hear it." She also collaborated with the likes of Herbie Hancock, James Brown and Bob Dylan, and wrote the theme song for The Karate Kid in Joe Esposito's "You're The Best." More recently pictured working with rapper Big Sean. In 2018, Willis was inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame. - New Musical Express, 12/25/19...... Actress Sue Lyon, best known for her first major role as a teen nymphet in the 1962 Stanley Kubrick-directed film Lolita, passed away in Los Angeles on Dec. 26. She was 73. In the movie based on Vladimir Nobokov's famous novel about a middle-aged college professor who becomes infatuated with a teen nymphet, Lyon starred opposite James Mason, picked out of 800 young actresses who had auditioned to play the title character in the controversial film when she was just 14 years old. Her performance earned the blonde beauty the Golden Globe in the most promising newcomer-female in 1963. Her followup to Lolita was a co-starring role opposite Richard Burton, Ava Gardner and Deborah Kerr in the John Huston-directed 1964 feature The Night Of the Iguana. She went on to appear in two dozen movies and TV shows, more notably Evel Knievel, Tony Rome and 7 Women. Her last screen credit was the 1980 horror movie Alligator. According to her longtime friend Phil Syracopoulous, her health had been declining for some time. - Deadline.com, 12/28/19...... Jack SheldonWest Coast jazz trumpeter Jack Sheldon, best known for playing "The Shadow of Your Smile" in the 1965 Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton drama The Sandpiper, serving as Merv Griffin's TV talk show sidekick, and voicing characters on the children's series Schoolhouse Rock!, died on Dec. 27, according to this longtime manager, Dianne Jimenez. He was 88. Mr. Sheldon's haunting version of "The Shadow of Your Smile," written by Johnny Mandel and Paul Francis Webster, won the Grammy Award for song of the year and the Academy Award for best original song. Mr. Sheldon was also seen or heard in several other films including The Long Goodbye (1973), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Save the Tiger (1973), Mommie Dearest (1981), Mr. Saturday Night (1992), Arachnophobia (1990) and For the Boys (1991). On Merv Griffin's long-running TV talk show that began in 1962, the fun-loving Mr. Sheldon enjoyed rich comic banter with the host, a big band singer himself. Griffin's favorite song was "The Shadow of Your Smile," and Mr. Sheldon performed it at Griffin's funeral in 2007. The Jacksonville, Fla., native also provided the voice for the Conjunction Conductor and performed as proposed legislation in the memorable piece "I'm Just a Bill" on the Saturday morning kids educational series Schoolhouse Rock!, which premiered on ABC in 1973. He parodied "I'm Just a Bill" as an "Amendment to Be" on a 1996 episode of The Simpsons and reprised his roles as the bill and the conductor on episodes of Family Guy in 2000 and 2001. In the late 1950s, Mr. Sheldon toured with orchestras led by Stan Kenton and Benny Goodman and backed such famous singers as Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. An inventive player, he also headed his own 17-piece orchestra. His TV credits include The Cara Williams Show, Run Buddy Run and The Girl With Something Extra. He was the subject of a 2008 documentary, Trying to Get Good: The Jazz Odyssey of Jack Sheldon, in which he detailed his battle with alcohol and substance abuse. He then made a resounding recovery from a stroke suffered in 2011 that robbed him of the use of his right arm. "I like the music to swing," he told the Los Angeles Times in 1987, "and I like to make people feel it, feel happy and sad, everything. If the music makes me smile and happy, then maybe the people will feel it, too." - The Hollywood Reporter, 12/31/19.